(see article
below)
Business
News
Lightweight
revolvers hot item for S&W
Wednesday,
October 24, 2001
By WILLIAM FREEBAIRN
A
new line of ultra-light revolvers in stores
this month is proving a success for Smith &
Wesson, which can't keep up with demand. The
new guns are among the first in the world to
use scandium, a metal that has been used in
Russian fighter jets and baseball bats. They
are being marketed under the AirLite Sc label
and all are capable of firing a powerful .357-caliber
Magnum round that had been previously unavailable
in such a lightweight gun.
The
smaller revolvers, which weight just over 11
ounces, have been shipping for several weeks;
larger guns should reach dealers in the coming
days.
"It's a hot item," said Herb A. Belin, handgun
product manager for Smith & Wesson. "Our
constraint is our production rate." The guns
are more expensive than stainless-steel revolvers.
New guns carry a suggested price of between
$700 and $800 each.
The
lighter guns are likely to be purchased by people
who want them for personal defense, especially
those with permits to carry concealed weapons,
Belin said. Officials said developing the guns
using the new metal took longer than expected
and taught them some lessons in metallurgy.
In high-speed video footage of the gun firing,
the frame and barrel moved dramatically due
to the scandium alloy's flexibility. "That gun
does the rumba," Belin said.
Designers
increased the size of some parts of the gun
to reduce flexing. Titanium was used in the
cylinder for strength, but testing showed it
was also needed in the center pin and other
parts of the weapon. Steel is used for the hammer
and trigger. "This taught us to make even stronger,
tougher guns," Belin said.
Scandium
is a little-known metal that occupies a place
on the periodic table immediately before titanium.
Discovered in the late 1800s, it found use in
the former Soviet Union, which had a virtual
monopoly on the supply from the Ukraine. The
Soviets used it in fighter jets and missile
parts. When the Soviet Union broke up, the metal
began to see more widespread use, for example
in aluminum baseball bats and mountain bike
frames.
Although
scandium costs about $7,000 a pound, the amount
needed to mix with aluminum and other alloying
agents is small. Adding a little scandium to
aluminum strengthens the material more than
twofold, Belin said.
Its
weight will increase the number of people willing
to carry it, Belin said. "You don't need a holster.
You can carry it in your pocket."
The
lightest of the scandium guns is less than half
of the weight of the lightest .357-caliber Magnum
the company made before. Because of their light
weight and flexible scandium-aluminum alloy
frame, the guns deliver a rapid "kick" to the
hands of the person firing them. "Recoil is
an issue," Belin said.
The
gun can fire less-powerful rounds than the .357
magnum, for example the .38 special, that can
reduce recoil. "You really have to work at not
flinching (when firing,)" Belin said.
Smith
& Wesson officials believe there may be
another market for the super-light guns. They
have developed a prototype scandium alloy gun
that could be carried by flight crews on commercial
airliners. There have been calls for flight
crews to be armed, although no steps have been
taken by the government in that direction.
The
Smith & Wesson prototypes are black with
an internal hammer, so they could be carried
in a trouser or jacket pocket without catching
on the fabric. The guns could be modified to
fire a lower-velocity round, which is less likely
to cause damage to an aircraft, officials said.
The
prototype air crew guns have not been publicly
revealed before, Belin said. A spokesman said
the prototypes are simply a design concept and
will not necessarily be produced or be shared
with people outside the company.
©
2001 UNION-NEWS.
ABOUT
SAF-T-HAMMER (OTC BB: SAFH)
Saf-T-Hammer
Corporation is a firearm safety company focused
on preventing unauthorized gun use and unintentional
firearm accidents. Saf-T-Hammer customers include
sporting goods distributors, law enforcement distributors,
law enforcement retailers, law enforcement agencies
and gunsmiths. Saf-T-Hammer acquired Smith &
Wesson, one of the world’s leading producers of
quality handguns and law enforcement products,
in May of this year. Law enforcement personnel,
military personnel, target shooters, hunters,
collectors and firearms enthusiasts throughout
the world have used the company’s products with
confidence for nearly 150 years.
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